City keeps priority for VN goods

People choose clothes at a Vintexmart in HCM City's District 7. The southern city is aiming at promoting the consumption of domesticaly produced products. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Vũ

HCM CITY — HCM City plans to continue promoting the “Vietnamese give priority to using Vietnamese goods” campaign.

Speaking at a meeting on March 16 to review last year’s campaign, Trần Tấn Ngời, vice chairman of the HCM City Fatherland Front Committee, said many promotional events, including trade fairs, have been organised to showcase local products in the city, even in its rural areas.

Domestically-made goods now account for 80-90 per cent of all products retailed, according to Ngời.

Awareness of the importance of the domestic market has improved among companies, and they pay attention to brand registration, developing products to customers’ tastes and expanding their distribution network even in remote areas, he said.

Ngời said Fatherland Front Committee, the city Department of Information and Communication and the Business Association of Vietnamese High-Quality Products would set up a website on domestically-made products this year.

He admitted the campaign had shortcomings since many enterprises had yet to focus on improving quality, resulting in many products failing to meet consumers’ needs.

The campaign, though large in scale, had not captured much attention among consumers.

Võ Thị Dung, deputy secretary of the city Party Committee, said a survey of 4,000 consumers by the city Party Committee’s Information and Education Commission found that only 60.1 per cent of respondents were interested in the campaign last year compared to 67.3 per cent in 2014, she said.

The number giving priority to buying Vietnamese goods reduced to 65 per cent from 71 per cent in 2014, she said.

The city would continue to promote the campaign this year to raise public awareness, she said.

She urged relevant agencies to review their communication methods to improve the efficiency, with a focus on strengthening co-operation with communication agencies.

They should bolster checks to prevent fake goods from threatening the health of consumers and to increase consumer confidence in locally-made products, she said. — VNS